The name Richard Penn distinguishes several prominent historical figures of British and colonial American significance, closely tied to the founding family of the Province of Pennsylvania. Most notably, the name belongs to three generations of the Penn family who served as proprietors, colonial administrators, and politicians during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The earliest of these figures, Richard Penn Sr. (1706–1771), was the younger son of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. Alongside his family, he served as a joint proprietor of the colony. His son, Richard Penn (c. 1735–1811), continued the family's administrative legacy in the New World, serving as the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from 1771 to 1773. Following his time in colonial administration, he returned to Great Britain, where he went on to serve as a Member of Parliament.
The third prominent figure, Richard Penn (1784–1863), was also a British Member of Parliament. In addition to his political career, he was distinguished as a Fellow of the Royal Society, reflecting the family's continued intellectual and social prominence in Britain long after the American Revolutionary War altered their colonial holdings.
